editorial articles reviews news & views - Institute of Sikh Studies
editorial articles reviews news & views - Institute of Sikh Studies
editorial articles reviews news & views - Institute of Sikh Studies
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES IN SCIENCE AND SIKH RELIGION<br />
17<br />
grand narrative <strong>of</strong> modern western civilization is the collapse <strong>of</strong> the<br />
metanarrative <strong>of</strong> reason.<br />
SCIENCE-SPIRITUALITY DIALOGUE<br />
During the new millennium, the conflict between Science and<br />
Religion finds a retreat, and we are living in a world where a dialogue<br />
between Science and Spirituality has become possible. Paradoxically,<br />
the inadequacy <strong>of</strong> reason has been revealed by reason itself. The<br />
Uncertainty Principle proposed by Werner Heisenberg has demolished<br />
the pyramid <strong>of</strong> deterministic philosophy based on Newtonian worldview.<br />
Here was an impasse beyond which reason could not go in its<br />
understanding <strong>of</strong> reality. The knower and the known are being seen<br />
as intertwined, mutually inclusive and not mutually exclusive. It is<br />
being felt that the traditional (dualistic, atomistic, reductionist) view<br />
is incapable <strong>of</strong> revealing the essence <strong>of</strong> reality. A new ‘holistic’ view<br />
is needed to see Reality in its concrete wholeness – a view that would<br />
see the whole in the parts and the parts in the whole, envisioned as<br />
‘dynamic becoming’ and not ‘static being’. This necessitates what is<br />
termed as “the paradigm shift” or the breakthrough <strong>of</strong> a new<br />
problematic in our thinking. This would not mean a negation <strong>of</strong> reason<br />
but going beyond it, to the realm <strong>of</strong> spirit. The notion <strong>of</strong> ‘spirit’ in<br />
this sense would be the foundational principle <strong>of</strong> the global civilization<br />
<strong>of</strong> the third milliennium analogous to the way in which ‘reason’ was<br />
the foundational postulate <strong>of</strong> the modern Western civilization after<br />
the Renaissance in Europe.<br />
POST MODERN ERA : AN AGE OF GOLBALIZATION<br />
Due to a large number <strong>of</strong> technological advances in the postmodern<br />
era, the world is rapidly shrinking. Globalization has become<br />
the buzzword everywhere. Some pr<strong>of</strong>ound changes are taking place<br />
which are distinctly different from the modern era. Obviously, there<br />
is rethinking and reconfiguration <strong>of</strong> modern era ideologies, causing<br />
many tensions, confusions and insecurities. Post modern era can be<br />
described as an era <strong>of</strong> conflict and anxiety. Inter-faith dialogue and<br />
global perspectives <strong>of</strong> science-spirituality dialogue have become <strong>of</strong><br />
utmost importance in the post-modern era.<br />
Post-modernism has questioned the empirical methods <strong>of</strong> the